The long awaited "tÍte-++-tÍte"
between the two main protagonists in Angola's conflict,
president Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Unita chief Jonas
Savimbi is finally going to take place, in the country's
capital,Luanda, "if everything goes as planned".

In the statement which announced the meeting for "not
earlier than 28 November," a presidential spokesman
said that Savimbi had dropped his previous objections
and accepted Luanda as the venue for the summit. To
many observers, no matter what the reasons are for
the sudden shift in the attitude of Jonas Savimbi,
what is most important is that the talks could lead
to a way out of the current crisis halting the completion
of the ongoing peace process.

Both the pressures emerging from the recently adopted
UNSC diplomatic and economic sanctions on UNITA, and
a steady reluctance on the part of the government to
hold the talks outside the capital, appear to have
played roles in getting the rebel leader to "surrender"
to the demands of his rival. According to President
dos Santos, presently on a private visit to Brazil,
the venue and other details were agreed on during a
telephone conversation on November 10, and the final
date for the talks will be set in early December upon
his return home. However, there are those skeptic analysts
who are of the opinion that judgingby past experience
not much should be expected from these talks.

Four meetings have already occurred between the two
leaders since the Lusaka peace agreement was signed
on November 20 1994, and eight since the country's
independence in 1975, but expectations raised from
those meetings were short lived and have had no significant
effects on the events in the country. The first time
the two leaders met in direct negotiations to seek
a solution to the conflict was in June 1989, at the
Gbadolite village in former Zaire, an initiative of
the then Zairean president, Mobutu Sese Seko. Eighteen
African heads of state were present to witness a formal
agreement that resulted after only 30 minutes of talks.
And the pronouncements issued at the end by each of
the two sides were completely contradictory. A few
days later, the initiative was described as a new fiasco.

Talks that resumed later, with MPLA and UNITA negotiators,
led to a new round of hand shaking on May 31 1991,
in Lisbon, when both Dos Santos and UNITA declared
to the entire world their "absolutely firm commitment
to an effective peaceful settlement in Angola,"
and agreed on multiparty general elections, the first
in the country's history. However, when UNITA lost
the UN-supervised parliamentary elections in 1992,
Savimbi fled Luanda bound for Huambo in the central
highlands and ordered all his generals, then integrated
into a unified army, to move back to the bush and take
up arms again on allegations that the vote had been
rigged. The vote had been endorsed by the United Nations
as being "generally free and fair".

This move plunged the country back into fierce fighting
for two years which are now regarded as the most violent
in Angola's 20 years of conflict. Then, in 1994, after
a protracted marathon of UN-brokered negotiations by
senior MPLA and UNITA officials in different African
capitals, a new cease-fire was declared with the Lusaka
Protocol just hours after government forces recaptured
Huambo following heavy fighting that went on for nearly
two months.

On this occasion, Savimbi did not show up for the official
signing ceremony of the Lusaka Accord, instead sending
the movement's then secretary general, Eugenio Manuvakola,
to do the job. President Dos Santos, because of this,
entitled his foreign minister, Venancio de Moura, to
sign the deal in Lusaka. After this, further direct
talks between dos Santos and Savimbi occurred occasionally
in Africa and Europe mainly to discuss solutions to
the setbacks experienced in the peace process.However,
the results were almost a constant round of promises
and guarantees, made but never honoured.

This time, dos Santos doesn't seem interested in yet
another "bear hug". He warned that he would
only see Savimbi if UNITA made "significant progress
in the implementation of the outstanding military tasks,"
describing this as a way of lending an adequate political
climate for the success of the meeting. This will serve
as a test for UNITA which, according to the UN, has
suspended all its Lusaka accord obligations after sanctions
were imposed on the movement by the Security council
on October 30.

A spokesperson for the UN Angola mission said recently
that UNITA had suspended both the process of normalizing
state administration in the country and that of demilitarizing
its force. "The quantity of soldiers demobilized
so far is derisive and there has been an increase in
tension and instability in the country over the last
days with increased fears that this might get worse,"
said MONUA spokesman David Wimhurst.

In the face of this, one can only wait and wonder if
the already announced Luanda meeting is really going
to happen.

Stories:

1. UN SUSPENDS DEMOBILIZATION FOLLOWING UNITA ATTACK
ON PEACEKEEPER

The United Nations suspended its operations to demobilize
scores of UNITA physically handicapped soldiers after
a Zambian peacekeeper on duty at former UNITA headquarters
in Jamba, southeast Angola, was beaten up by eight
members of the movement.

A UN official described the attack as "unjustified"
and said that the demobilization would remain suspended
until the case was fully clarified. A commission of
investigation formed by members of the UN Humanitarian
Aid Coordinating Unit (UCAH) and UNITA is investigating
the incident in which a UN World Food Programme worker
was also attacked.

"It was a cowardly attack, without any provocation,
against an unarmed man," said a UN spokesman in
Luanda. "This scenario of violence is simply unacceptable.
We are here to help in the peace process. These situations
must not be repeated, this incident has to be the last
one," he said.

The attack occurred on November 11, and the Zambian
peacekeeper, the MONUA commander in the region, was
immediately rushed to Luanda and hospitalized.

2. NCR LAUNCHES "PLASTIC MONEY"

Angola is soon to introduce the electronic payment system
in a move expected to help curb mounting imbalances
in internal monetary transactions. The project will
be implemented by the Luanda branch of the NCR company
which on November 13 conducted a seminar in Luanda
to explain to officials of monetary institutions the
importance and advantages of the system.

Experts in Luanda say that NCR, with 25 per cent of
the African market in the distribution of the electronic
payment systems, provided the market in 1996 with as
many as 31 000 machines.

3. FRAUD, MISMANAGEMENT IN UN OPERATIONS

Serious financial and management irregularities in the
UN Angola mission have resulted in big losses to the
United Nations, according to a report recently published
by the UN control service. The document says that there
were cases of fraud, squandering and mismanagement
of financial resources in the UN peacekeeping operations
and aid to refugees, between July 1996 and June 1997,
which amounted to losses estimated at US$ 288,980.

The report states that the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees conducted an audit of 14 African countries,
including Angola, which "revealed different types
of gaps and chronic problems mostly resulting from
the fact that the UNHCR does not control whether the
funds are applied to the predicted aims".

According to the document, similar cases have also occurred
with the UN aid mission to Rwanda (MINUAR,) and with
the International Penal Court established in the Tanzanian
city of Arusha.

He said while addressing a Luanda symposium on national
culture recently, that local languages, being the vehicles
of the culture, should deserve equal space, time and
treatment on an educational level working towards an
equilibrium between traditional and modern values.

The main vernacular languages of Angola are Kimbundo,
Kicongo, Fiote (north), Umbundo(centre) and Tchokwe
(east).

5.MEDIA URGED TO GIVE SPACE TO PUBLIC HEALTH

Angola is preparing to set up an "information and
communication sub-committee for health," as the
first step of a strategic plan aimed at promoting public
health through local media.

In a recent workshop, organized jointly by the ministries
of health and of social communication, it was recommended
that the media devotes more space to the dissemination
of "educative information on public health,"
to help the people of Angola acquire positive habits
and attitudes towards the prevention of illnesses.

The main objective of the workshop was to encourage
media to actively participate in the health education
of the population and recommended the promotion of
a health ministry spokesperson to help journalists
obtain major access to information on the matter. Participants
suggested that it was necessary to institute a yearly
prize and other such incentives aimed at stimulating
journalists into covering public health related events.

The workshop was sponsored by the United Nations Population
Fund and the World Health Organization.

6.ANGOLA AFRICA'S BIGGEST OIL PRODUCER BY YEAR 2000

Angola is expected to raise its 750,000 oil barrels
per day (bpd) output to a million bpd by the year 2,000,
to become Africa's biggest crude oil producer.

At a meeting held recently in Luanda, the oil minister,
Mrs Albina Assis said that in order to achieve the
above score, a yearly 10 percent growth will be needed.
It would also involve new oil strikes and optimization
and recovery of old fields through more advanced technologies.
She also said that such an effort will need to involve
a strong role by the national oil society, SONANGOL,
in taking "decisive steps" in onshore operations.

Britain has already announced plans to provide Angola
with state of the art technology for operations in
deep waters. According to the visiting British minister
of energy, science and technology, Mr John Battle,
there is strong interest by firms in the UK, particularly
BP, in forging joint-ventures in Angola in the specific
area of deep water operations.

7.TB HOSPITAL WITHOUT TOILETS

Scores of tuberculosis patients at the Luanda-based
"Sanatorium" hospital have been without the
use of toilets for more than two years because of undrained
sewerage, health minister Anastacio Sicato recently
confirmed during a short visit to the hospital.

According to the minister, the patients at the hospital
have to use tins and plastic bags "which are then
thrown outside into the enclosure of the building".
Apart from the lack of facilities, and like almost
all public hospitals in the country, there is also
an almost total lack of food, tests materials and medicines
for the treatment of the TB cases at the Sanatorium.
Also, the buildings of the hospital are in appalling
condition.

Many public health officials in Luanda have suggested
that the hospital be shut down "because it is
worsening the state of the patients rather than treating
them". However, the minister promised that efforts
would be made both at home and abroad to mobilize the
necessary means for resolving the situation. He said
negotiations had been started with the Chinese government
which had offered to help rehabilitate the Sanatorium.

8. DIAMOND PROVINCE WANTS 'SPECIAL STATUS'

Angola's northeast Lunda-Norte province, the country's
biggest diamond producer, has claimed 'special status'
in the state budget allocation of incomes from mining
activity.

The mayor for Lunda-Norte, Mr Gomes Maiato, said recently
that at the present time his province cannot rely on
the diamonds it produces because "no percentage
from the diamond revenues is allotted to the local
provincial government".

Unlike Lunda-Norte, the state budget provides 10 percent
from oil incomes to each of the two oil producing provinces
of Cabinda and Zaire, both on the northern Atlantic
coast. Mr Maiato acknowledged that the diamond revenues
are low, but said this was because of military and
political instability in the country which, he added,
has delayed a full reactivating of mining activity
because large areas were occupied by UNITA guerrillas.

He expressed the hope that once peace is fully restored
to the country and the state authority effectively
normalized, the province would be able to benefit more
from its riches.

9.PLANES WITH UNITA SUPPLIES HELD IN ZAMBIA

Zambia has officially confirmed detention of a number
of aircraft which attempted to fly supplies into areas
held by UNITA rebels on Angolan territory, according
to General Pedro Neto, head of staff of the Angolan
air force.

General Pedro Neto would not elaborate on the date the
planes were held or the nationality of the owners,
but said that the information was released by the Zambian
government during a recent meeting of the defence and
security committee of the Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC), held in Lusaka.

This followed earlier complaints by the Angolan government
that it has uncovered "fresh signs" of Angola's
airspace violations by unknown aircraft taking off
"particularly from Zambian territory" to
allegedly drop supplies for UNITA rebels. A cabinet
minister said there was "some instability"
on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo
but said this situation would improve once state authority
was restored in the areas still held by UNITA and when
joint patrolling was started by Angola and the Democratic
Congo border police.

For its part, South Africa told the Lusaka meeting that
it has reduced from 35 to 10 the number of airports
now allowed for international flights. This is reportedly
aimed at helping enforce the UN Security Council sanctions
imposed on UNITA on October 30.

10.ANGOLA TO PIONEER LANDMINES CLEARANCE FROM THE AIR

An aircraft designed for detecting landmines from the
air is to start operations in May 1998, in four regions
of Angola. It is an EC sponsored initiative launched
by a European consortium, details of which were announced
recently in Luanda.

The new method is to replace the current manual detectors
that have proved inefficient in clearing the overwhelmingly
large quantities of mines scattered around the country.
Estimates say that about 12 million landmines were
laid in Angola during the armed conflict.

Pioneering the new demining process will be the regions
of Cuito Cuanavale in southeast, Benguela (central
coast), Caxito and Malange (north,) each of them with
an area of 100 square kms surveyed. The aircraft to
be used belongs to the Luxembourg CAE Aviation Company
and is equipped with six different sensors. Among other
equipment on board, each of these planes will carry
a specific geographical coordinate associated with
a given region.

This technology will help detect mines in the soil up
to 50 cm deep and from a diameter of 14 cms, in a process
coordinated by the Dutch Institute for Aerospace Survey
and Earth Sciences, the sources said.

11.GOVERNMENT HAS 70 PERCENT OF HUAMBO TERRITORY

The Angolan government say they have recaptured as much
as 70 percent of the former UNITA held Huambo territory
in the central highland, following the process for
normalizing state administration.

Mr Paulo Cassoma, the mayor of Huambo province, said
the restoration of government authority in the region
is going well despite some small incidents involving
UNITA members. He said that the situation there was
"relatively calm".

"Bailundo and Andulo, current headquarters for
Jonas Savimbi's UNITA, are the only two places in the
region where government control has not been restored
yet," said Mr Paulo Cassoma,who on November 17
left for Lisbon at the invitation of the Portuguese
secretary of State for foreign affairs and cooperation,
Jose Lamego.

12. ITALY TO ORGANIZE DONORS CONFERENCE

Italy has announced that it has been encouraged by President
Jose Eduardo dos Santos to organize a donors conference
on Angola upon a successful closing of the ongoing
peace process.

The conference would aim at assisting in the reconstruction
and development of the country, according to Italy's
under secretary of state for cooperation, Mr Rino Serri,
who recently visited Luanda for talks with Dos Santos.
Serri said that they asked the president for advice,
for a suggestion on the issue, and he gave a positive
reply.

Italy will be engaged from the beginning of the work,
he said, adding that the date for the conference will
not only depend on Italy and Angola, but also on the
interest that other countries will attach to the event.
Mr Rino Serri noted that Italy wants the participation
of other partners of Angola such as the United States,
France and Germany.

13.UN MEMBER COUNTRIES URGED TO ENFORCE SANCTIONS

The Angolan government has called on all UN member states
to scrupulously implement the October 30 Security Council
sanctions on UNITA. Vice foreign minister Joao Miranda
told the diplomatic corps in Luanda that the government
was "extremely worried to see that some of the
United Nations member states are reluctant to enforce
the sanctions that were unanimously approved by the
Security Council on October 30".

"Collaboration of the international community will
make us believe that the countries with which we have
diplomatic ties are really working for the good of
the people of Angola," he said. Mr Miranda welcomed
both Zambia for recently detaining planes which attempted
to fly supplies to UNITA guerrillas in Angolan territory,
and South Africa for commencing actions to ban landing
and take off of UNITA-chartered planes, as was recommended
by the UNSC resolution 1135 which imposed the sanctions
on Jonas Savimbi's movement.

14.REGULAR FLIGHTS TO PARIS RESUMED AFTER 7 YEARS

After a 7-year interruption, the Angolan "TAAG"
airlines has resumed regular flights on the route Luanda-Paris
and vice-versa. The inaugural flight took place in
the first week of November on a Boeing 747-300 in what
was described by TAAG managing director Miguel Costa
as a demonstration that real cooperation can be expanded
in the north-south dimension.